Where’s the fire, Tom?

There isn’t much of what you’d call oratory in Canadian politics any more. Our leaders are low-key in their presentation, pedestrian in their choice of words. Lift an audience out of their seats? They don’t even try.

I suppose we can’t expect the theatrics of a Diefenbaker, the inspiration of a Churchill or the eloquence of a Kennedy. But do our politicians have to be so bland?

Case in point: the sluggish speech given by NDP leader Thomas Mulcair to the Canadian Club of Ottawa Tuesday. These days there is so much for opposition leaders to get worked up about; in his speech, Mulcair focused on the recent ethics scandals in Ottawa, as he should have.

But he showed no passion, indignation or outrage. He was casual and wearisome throughout. He just sort of laboured on, reading words quickly from his text. The audience was unmoved, interrupting his speech to applaud only once.

If a Tommy Douglas or a Diefenbaker had been at the podium, with scandal ammunition available, you can bet the crowd would have witnessed a barn-burner. You can bet they would have been on their feet.

The unfortunate thing is that Mulcair has the capacity to deliver a stemwinder. He has a booming set of vocal chords, a strong presence, Irish blood. But he is purposely holding himself in check because NDP strategists are worried that he comes across as too hot, too angry. They want to tone him down.

NDP strategists are worried that Mulcair comes across as too hot, too angry. They want to tone him down. But Tom doesn’t do ‘toned-down’ very well.

But Tom doesn’t do ‘toned-down’ very well. Tone him down too much and he’ll disappear. His speech referenced the Senate scandal, the evidence of vote suppression in the last election, the $3.1 billion missing from the treasury. But the word he kept using to describe Conservative malfeasance was “lapses” … ethical “lapses.”

You can imagine how apoplectic Tories must have been at hearing that: Gee fellas, we’re guilty of lapses.

Mulcair has to let his Irish blood flow. That’s who he is. Obviously he can’t be near boiling point all the time. But these times call for aggression — the big throttle.

In terms of public speaking ability, Mulcair has an advantage over his rivals. Stephen Harper on the podium is decidedly uninspiring. Justin Trudeau has a charismatic presence but so far has shown very little to complement it. When he is on, Mulcair — along with Bob Rae — is the most impressive performer in the Commons.

Mulcair has been outstanding in question period lately, tearing into the prime minister over the Senate scandal like a courtroom prosecutor. Instead of the long, predictable sermons opposition critics usually deliver, his queries have been short, punchy and specific. Harper is no slouch in QP. But Mulcair, a lawyer by trade, has often made the PM look uncomfortable and evasive.

But he has to fire up audiences outside the Commons as well. This is his moment. Ethics is replacing economics as the big issue and this could be gold for opposition parties. Mulcair has to convince voters that it is only the NDP that can clean up Ottawa and reconstruct our democracy.

“Step-by-step,” he said. “the old Reform-turned-Conservative Party has turned its back on its own ideals in the pursuit of power … Instead of changing the culture of entitlement here, they’ve become a part of it.” Whereas both old-line parties have been corrupted, he said, the NDP, which has never held power in Ottawa, offers new hope.

But the speech didn’t lay out an alternative plan of democratic reform to address the abuse of power and the excessive concentration of it in the office of the prime minister. Both the Liberals and NDP have put out some reform ideas — nothing significant enough to change the Ottawa culture. The party that does this, that can convince Canadians it can change the system, likely will have the best chance of beating the Conservatives.

This is no time for Tom Mulcair to be delivering snoozers.

Lawrence Martin is the author of 10 books, including six national bestsellers. His most recent, Harperland, was nominated for the Shaughnessy Cohen award. His other works include two volumes on Jean Chrétien, two on Canada-U.S. relations and three books on hockey.

The views, opinions and positions expressed by all iPolitics columnists and contributors are the author’s alone. They do not inherently or expressly reflect the views, opinions and/or positions of iPolitics.

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Lawrence Martin is the author of ten books, including six national bestsellers. His most recent, Harperland, was nominated for the Shaughnessy Cohen award. His other works include two volumes on Jean Chretien, two on Canada-U.S. relations and three books on hockey.
Educated at McMaster and Harvard, Martin served as Washington correspondent and Moscow correspondent for The Globe and Mail and is a long-standing columnist for the newspaper. Among other honours, he is the recipient of McMaster’s Life Leadership Achievement Award.